The geographic focal point of this website is what we may refer to as Olympia. Of all the areas on Earth, Olympia is the one with the longest and most significant history of Christianity. It is also the place where most important struggles between Olympianity, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam have taken place. We need to understand this history and these struggles to make sense of our own time and prepare ourselves to better hear the creative words which Jesus may speak to us today.
As the map above indicates, Olympia includes the land once encompassed by the Roman Empire plus today's northern Germany. We could also say that it includes lands of Western Europe, Southwest Asia, and North Africa.
Olympia includes these parts of Western Europe: Wales and England north to Hadrian's Wall, then continental Europe beginning with Portugal and Spain and moving eastward until we get to the Oder and Danube rivers.
Next, Olympia includes these parts of Southwest Asia: Turkey east to the Euphrates River, Iraq, Kuwait, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and Jordan.
Finally, Olympia includes that narrow strip of inhabited North Africa, between the Mediterranean Sea and the Sahara, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Sinai Peninsula. It also includes that narrow strip of land from the Nile Delta south to the first cataract at Aswan.
So we have Olympia and all that which is not Olympia. Olympia is simply that land which will be the focus of our attention. As an object of study, it is big enough to allow meaningful diversity yet small enough to keep meaningfully in mind. Olympia!
We will refer to everything outside of Olympia as Incognita; literally, that which is unknown. This is no judgment against all the societies, cultures, and people of the world outside of Olympia. Incognita is simply the collective name of all those lands whose histories lie outside the purpose of this website. We will now identify the relevant parts of Incognita.
North of Olympia lies forested Scandinavia. This includes the modern countries of Norway, Sweden, Finland, and Denmark.
East of Olympia lies vast Asia. But Olympia’s boundary with Asia is broken into three relatively distinct parts by water and desert. One eastern boundary of Olympia is formed by the Oder, Morava, and Danube rivers. We will refer to this part of Asia, on the basis of its dominant language group, as Slavia. Another eastern boundary is formed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers flowing between the Black Sea and the Persian Gulf. We will refer to this part of Asia as Persia. Finally, a third eastern boundary is formed by the desert between the Persian Gulf and the Red Sea. We will refer to this part of Asia as Arabia.
South of Olympia lies the forbidding Sahara.
West of Olympia lies immense Oceania. Oceania is the name of all that water but also the continents of North and South America.
So first we have our fabled
Olympia. Then we have surrounding Incognita: forested Scandinavia, vast Asia (
Slavia,
Persia, and Arabia), forbidding Sahara, and immense
Oceania.
Copyright © 2013 by Steven Farsaci.
All rights reserved. Fair use encouraged.
